FOLLOWING his return to international cricket after injury, India’s experienced opener Virender Sehwag was given the “finger treatment” by West Indies captain Darren Sammy during the Test series whenever he got him out for relatively low scores.
Those crude and unsportsmanlike signals would have created a strong impression on the mind of the marauding swashbuckler who finally found his touch and returned those unwelcome compliments in the most emphatic manner with a special “willow treatment” that left Sammy and his team shell-shocked and confined to the unwanted sections of the annals of international cricket history.
With the aid of lush-green and lightning-fast outfield and short boundary marks and blessed with the right conditions the 33-year-old whacked the West Indies bowlers in disdainful fashion as he marched triumphantly into the record books with a spectacular new world record score of 219 in the Fourth One Day Internationals at the Indore.
And to add insult to injury, it was Sammy who became the chief culprit and would be remembered as the one who gifted Sehwag the new world record when he dropped a sitter when Sehwag (on 170) drove airily at Ravi Rampaul’s full-length delivery on line with the off-stump. The ball was airborne for a long time and the WI captain settled to take the catch shoulder high only to allow it to bubble out and allowed the Indian opener to celebrate a unique achievement of becoming the second player to score a ODIs double-century.
When he had reached 197 in the 44th over, Sehwag essayed a vicious square cut off pacer Andre Russell and the red cherry fizzed across the turf and beyond the boundary marker for his 24th four off 140 balls. That shot sparked wild celebrations among the 30 000-odd spectators who crammed into the Holkar Stadium while millions more beyond the venue would have also saluted the historic feat.
Sehwag not only eclipsed teammate and idol Sachin Tendulkar’s unbeaten 200 scored against South Africa last year at Gwailor which is in the same Madhya Pradesh State, but also he piloted his team to their highest ODIs total and also their highest score ever recorded against a West Indian team.
India’s 418 for 5 off the 50 overs became the joint-fourth highest ODIs total, the same as South Africa against Zimbabwe on September 20, 2006 at Potchefstroom which surpassed their 414 for 7 registered against Sri Lanka at Rajkot December 15, 2009.
India became the first team to record four scores of 400 plus in ODIs among the teams that have accomplished that gigantic score in the 50-overs format.
When Tendulkar notched his unbeaten WR double at Gwailor on February 24 last year, India amassed 401 for 3 versus South Africa while they also posted a World Cup record score of 413 versus Bermuda at the Queen’s Park Oval on March 19, 2007 when Sehwag was also the main contributor with 114 (87b, 17x4s, 3x6s) while Sourav Ganguly 89 (114b, 6x4s, 2x6s), Yuvraj Singh 83 (46b, 3x4s,7x6s) and Tendulkar, batting at number 6, scored an unbeaten 57 (29b, 2x4s, 4x6s).
It is interesting to note that the margin of victory by India was exactly the same when their two superstars achieved the toughest world record to accomplish in international cricket.
On both occasions they won by 153 runs which is the fourth biggest against West Indies. It was also the fourth consecutive bi-lateral series victory over West Indies in the last two years.
India’s biggest run-margin of victory over West Indies is by 160 runs in the 4th ODIs at Vadodora on January 31, 2007.
India made 341 for 3 (Ganguly 68, skipper Rahul Dravid 78, Tendulkar 100 not out and DS Dhoni 40 not out). West Indies captained by Brian Lara (3) was bowled out for 181 (41.4 overs) with Marlon Samuels 55 and Denesh Ramdin 40 the top scorers.
So many world, Indian and ODIs records were broken by the vintage Sehwag that they all cannot be included in this feature. But it important to note that his 219 is the highest by a captain in ODIs, with the previous highest being Sanath Jayasuriya’s 189 versus India at Sharjah 2000.
Among the top four highest individual scores, three  have now been registered on Indian pitches with Pakistan’s previous World record holder Saeed Anwar scoring 194 against India at Chennai in 1997, the same score achieved by Zimbabwe’s Charles Coventry against Bangladesh at Bulawayo in 2009.
During his monumental knock Sehwag joined an elite group of 26 players to score 8 000 runs in ODIs. With 8 025 (35.66) in 234 innings out of 240 matches, he became the sixth Indian and joins Tendulkar (18 111 runs), Ganguly (11 363); Dravid (10 889); Mohammed Azharuddin (9 378) and Yuvraj Singh (8 051). Surprisingly, he is 15th among the fastest to reach the landmark which is headed by Ganguly (200 innings), Tendulkar (210 innings) and Brian Lara (211 innings).
Before the Fourth ODIs, many in India were suggesting that Sehwag, who had scored a total of 46 runs in the first three ODIs in the current series, and Gambhir who had mustered a mere 16 runs in the previous three previous innings; should be omitted from the squad to allow their talented youngsters a chance to prove their worth.
But once the batting order was changed and Gambhir restored to opening with his Delhi-based captain; they plundered the WI bowlers in an entertaining 176-run opening partnership (23rd over) that laid the foundation for the history-making events that evolved.
Sehwag was joined by Suresh Raina who also had failed in the three previous matches and whose position was also debated.
The 23-year-old rose to the challenge and unfurled his wide repertoire of strokes and in tandem with Sehwag, who was in murderous mood as they featured in an exciting 140-run second wicket stand that sealed West Indies’ fate and consigned Sammy’s team to the history books with a few unwanted records to their names.
Imagine this was under-strength and almost new-look Indian team that played without its famed iconic stars Tendulkar, Dravid, skipper MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh in the batting line-up. Tendulkar, Dravid and Dhoni were aboard an aircraft flying to Australia while Sehwag savage the hapless WI bowlers who, apart from Rampaul in his first five overs, struggled for consistency and accuracy on the placid pitch.
Only Ramdin, with his career-best 96, and number eleven Sunil Narine, in his second consecutive match, played with any degree of determination while Lendl Simmons, Marlon Samuels an Andre Russell got starts but gifted their wickets away in their quest for quick runs.
It is still a mystery why Jason Mohammed, who topped the batting aggregate and averages in the WICB Super50, which was successfully staged by the Guyana Cricket Board; cannot find a place in the current team. West Indies cricket rankings will remain the worst of the more established eight cricketing nations after another disappointing series.
However, it is only fitting that we salute one of the greatest cricketing entertainers of the modern era. Sehwag has now accomplished what no other cricketer has achieved in their illustrious careers. He has two triple-hundreds in Test (319 versus South Africa and 309 vs Pakistan at Multan 2004) and now the highest score in ODIs.
Sehwag’s place in the annals of the history of international cricket has been further embellished and his renewed prolific form augurs well for India’s chances ‘Down Under’. He will also command bigger endorsement deals worth many more millions and his place in the pantheon of the greatest batsmen of all-time has been secured for posterity.